Question

First, describe the following three terms: Organizational Ambidexterity, Network Organizations, and Distributed Innovation. In each section, include the pros and cons of each in terms of designing for innovation. Finally, provide an opinion as to which you believe is most suited for encouraging innovation and why.

Answer 1

Organizational ambidexterity:-

It is the organizational ability to be adaptive to changes in an environment as well as efficiency in the business demand.

Pros -

1. It helps an organization to be creative and adaptable in the market.
2. An organization can also be flexible and able to take more risks.
3. It helps to improve the performance of an organization.

Cons -

1. This organizational structure is only for large firms and not for small firms.

Network organization:-

It is that type of organizational structure where two or more organizations combine together to form a single entity so to produce a good or service.

Pros -

1. An organization can have a clearer focus on lower costs as it involves outsourcing.
2. This type of organizational structure has high flexibility.

Cons -

1. It is difficult to control the network structure.
2. There is some lack of secrecy in the outsourcing process.

Distributed innovation:-

It is that type of approach where innovative ideas are taken not only from the manufacturers of a product but also from the users and rivals.

Pros -

1. An organization can get various types of ideas from different people.

Cons -

1. Taking ideas may be risky.

In my opinion, network organizations would be more suitable to encourage innovation. This type of structure is more decentralized in nature and has a lot of flexibility than other structural forms. Managers can also control their relationships with both internal and external environments.

Hope this helps :)